21of21The array of colors on the exterior sign of Michin Fresh Mexican Kitchin give a hint of the lively setting inside.Photo: Jena Stopczynski /For the Express-News

If you think bone marrow is only the province of high-end steakhouses and nose-to-tail hipster joints, come to Michin Fresh Mexican Kitchin and spoon out a chunk of spice-rubbed marrow, nestle it into a hunk of a hot corn tortilla and drizzle on a bit of jalapeño vinegar salsa.

This combination of creamy beef essence called Tuetanos Piki is truly a magical, creative and brilliantly successful take on the familiar combination of bone marrow with toasted bread and parsley salad.

Not into bone marrow? No worries — take the jalapeño vinegar salsa and drizzle it on whatever you’d like. I happily dipped chips into it and ate it like a spicy soup.

In addition to that spicy salsa, co-owner Juan Pablo Vidales, who helped create Michin’s (pronounced mee-cheen) menu, presents several delightful dishes, along with friendly, helpful service in a high-energy atmosphere punctuated with plenty of electronic funk and dance music.

Like the menu, the interior of the restaurant blends different styles into a unique combination of its own. Walls of exposed brick give way to talavera-style tiles, while the combination of a polished concrete floor and whitewashed wooden tabletops offers a modern yet rustic feel. Outside, the contemporary outdoor furniture anchors a sleek patio that is almost cool enough to make you forget you’re sitting in a Stone Oak strip mall.

Overall, visiting Michin is a fun experience, and one I recommend. I just wish my recommendation was stronger. Although executive chefs Javier Suarez and Luis Fuente and their team execute dishes with skill, I crave more truly great dishes on the menu.

Michin, which means fish in the Aztec language of Nahuatl, includes several seafood items, but it’s not strictly a seafood restaurant. Among the seafood offerings, the grilled lobster came out strongest. A few charred bits on the shell and edges of the meat from the Josper oven, a high-end piece of cooking equipment that can serve as both a charcoal grill and an oven, added a nice accent to the firm shellfish. An accompanying rice pilaf comforted, while slightly al dente asparagus rounded out the dish and a roasted garlic butter tied everything together beautifully.

The menu also includes ceviche, seafood cocktails and aguachiles, which were all just OK. The raw butterflied shrimp of the aguachile were arranged in a lovely fan-shaped pattern atop a sweet, sour and spicy concoction reminiscent of a Thai-style dipping sauce. The flavors were good, but the shrimp lacked a citrus tang from fresh lime juice, which kept the entire dish from succeeding. Similarly, a tuna tartare that topped the tostada de atún lacked some much-needed citrus zestiness.

A seafood cocktail of octopus and shrimp skillfully presented jicama cubes diced the same size as the featured seafood, but included a sauce so thick it seemed more like a glaze. Even though the departure from the ketchup-based sauce often seen in Mexican seafood cocktails was admirable, it didn’t need to be that sweet.

Much better was a take on classic fish tacos that deftly showcased classic fried fish pieces — the fish changes depending on availability — on herb-infused corn tortillas with shredded cabbage, spicy mayonnaise, pickled onions and a light sprinkle of black sesame seeds. It’s a familiar, yet captivating version of the Baja California classic.

Back to the beef, and there’s plenty to like. In La Botana Michin, fried pieces of tender rib-eye top freshly made guacamole, and that combination was every bit as good as it sounds. Meanwhile, a grilled piece of skirt steak, the arrachera, was tenderized a bit too much and lacked its characteristic chewiness, but, nevertheless, the marinade gave the meat a very pleasant herbaceous and slightly tangy flavor.

Also on the the menu are flatbreads that the menu calls pizzas which had a slightly chewy crust that served as a blank canvas for other flavors. Diners have a choice of toppings, including pepperoni and cheese for kids. The seafood flatbread with shrimp, octopus and crabmeat, La de Mar, pleasantly reminded me of an East Coast clam pizza.

On the drinks side, you can pair just about any of these dishes with a Mexican beer and that’s never a bad idea, but consider instead a signature cocktail. You can’t go wrong with the very good hand-shaken margarita, which offers a choice of tequila with freshly squeezed lime juice, Grand Marnier and Cointreau. The boozy Whiskey Smash, with the caramelized sweetness of Rebecca Creek whiskey, was nicely balanced with fresh lemon juice, fresh mint and bitters.

Servers advise you that they won’t bring the check until you request it, a custom in Mexico. There, if a server brings a check before a patron asks he is seen as rude and as if he’s trying to rush out his guests. With freedom to loiter, order a slightly sweet ancho margarita, which adds Ancho Reyes liqueur to reposado tequila, agave nectar and fresh lime juice. With a margarita in hand, there’s always extra time to linger.

Edmund Tijerina writes about food and reviews restaurants for the San Antonio Express-News. His culinary explorations began with rolling flour tortillas as a child and included a yearlong stint as chef and owner of a restaurant in Milwaukee. He is a frequent contributor to Eater.com and has written about food, restaurants and reviewing for Epicurious and Romenesko. He joined the Express-News in 1999 after closing his restaurant. Before joining the Taste team, he wrote the ""Around the Town"" column for the Express-News form 2002-2008. His other assignments for the paper included education and news obituaries. He began his newspaper career in Bay City, Texas, before going to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, graduate school in New York, a yearlong internship at the Chicago Tribune and different positions at the Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He's a Houston native with philosophy degree from Harvard and a master's from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. He lives with and cooks for his wife and son in San Antonio.